history of car:
2001 itr. 37,000mi. i have been the only owner and the car has never seen an accident. prior to taking the car in for replacement of a clutch slave cylinder under warranty, i never heard the noise described below.

noise:
basically, my car will make a humming/moaning noise when my steering wheel is at or near full lock in either direction. in the morning when i pull out of the driveway (at low speed) and am at or near full lock, i hear the noise. with the wheel centered and during normal turning, i hear no noise.


from what i gather from the many posts i have read, do i have a bad wheel bearing? possible power steering problem? (i did check the fluid level and it's *a ok*) maybe as simple as flushing the old fluid out for new fluid? :shrugs:

thank you to anyone able to help.


Modified by kepani at 10:17 PM 7/8/2003

 

If the bearing(s) is/are bad enough to make the humming/grinding/moaning noises, then you should readily be able to tell just by rocking the wheel up/down and checking the free play.

It could also be possible that the PS pump is dying, but you'd be able to narrow it down to the pump by keeping the car at a standstill and turning it to full lock in either direction. It should bitch and moan.

 

i should add that the noise will only emanate when i drive forward. i do not hear a noise when standing still at or near full lock.

 

as a quick check to eliminate the power steering as the source of the noise, try removing the PS belt and see if the noise disappears.

 

maybe this weekend i can remove the ps belt. but from what i can deduce (again i'm not a mechanic ), it seems as though the ps system is ok. there is no pulsing or screeching or whine. only a slight "hum" as a pull forward (it doesn't happen in reverse).

i'll try and do more investigating at the end of work today.

kepani-who's very confused...

 

I think the noise its coming from your steering wheel column
took mine to the dealer had it fix under warranty.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by IN VTEC &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">If the bearing(s) is/are bad enough to make the humming/grinding/moaning noises, then you should readily be able to tell just by rocking the wheel up/down and checking the free play.
</TD></TR></TABLE>

not always.

 

My car makes the same noise but only for about half a second when I am unwinding the steering wheel after backing up from parking space. Its been doing it for at least a year...Ive ignored it.

 

It's not the wheel bearing(s).

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Jetydosa &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">My car makes the same noise but only for about half a second when I am unwinding the steering wheel after backing up from parking space. Its been doing it for at least a year...Ive ignored it. </TD></TR></TABLE>

it's comforting to hear that i'm not the only one with this sort of problem (don't get me wrong, i wish either of us didn't have this prob. ). however what bothers me is that i only started hearing this noise AFTER going to the dealer to get another problem solved.

 

if it was the wheel bearing/s you would hear it at all times. whether driving in a striaght line or turning.

sounds like you have an issues in the power steering system.

 

Solution

The dealership most likely didn't use Honda MTF in your tranny, I had this issue on the first car I owned. ThePunk and I both took are cars in for a 15,000 service, they changed the MTF, we both had similar noises, I took the car in...they changed the MTF to Honda MTF and it went away. The dealership will use non-Honda fluids if they can to save $$, and make a higher profit. You might want to call the dealership and see if they used the Honda MTF...

Austin

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by bgod &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">if it was the wheel bearing/s you would hear it at all times. whether driving in a striaght line or turning.

sounds like you have an issues in the power steering system.</TD></TR></TABLE>

i have a humming/moaning noise...but i dont hear it until i am cruising above 45-50 mph...

faster i go, the more noticeable it becomes, and more frequent in sound

im assuming its a wheel bearing?

if i cant move the hub, whats the appropiate test to see if its the wheel bearing?

 

did they grease up the bearings? doesn't sound like the reason but just a thought

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Austin &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Solution

The dealership most likely didn't use Honda MTF in your tranny, I had this issue on the first car I owned. ThePunk and I both took are cars in for a 15,000 service, they changed the MTF, we both had similar noises, I took the car in...they changed the MTF to Honda MTF and it went away. The dealership will use non-Honda fluids if they can to save $$, and make a higher profit. You might want to call the dealership and see if they used the Honda MTF...

Austin</TD></TR></TABLE>

austin and everyone else - i did fail to mention that i had my tranny fluid replaced at the service. this sounds like the solution. i will check back with the acura dealer to see if indeed they did use genuine mtf.

kepani-who thanks austin for the promising lead...

 

Kepani: you do not have bad bearings.
SoupNazi: You do.

Kepani: If this noise is present when the wheel is at full lock but the car ISN'T in motion, I would agree that it is power steering. If it occurs ONLY when the car is moving forward, I'm inclinded to think it has something to do with CV-joints - but this is usually a clicking noise.

SoupNazi: You can verify a wheel bearing by taking the load off that bearing a seeing if the noise disappears. Do this by steering abruptly ( but safely) in one direction to see if the noise disappears. If it does not, go the other way. The bad bearing will be on the same side as the direction you turned when the noise disappeared.

 

Typically wheel bearings don't go bad with low miles unless you track the car. The "unusual" loads on the bearings diring track events causes the premature wear.

Also, both bearings going at the same time would be highly unlikely. You would be able to hear it coming from one side or the other if it was a bad bearing.

I assume you have checked for a machanical rubbing of the tires on something at full lock?

 

as pointed out by many, it was NOT a wheel bearing problem.

i took the itr to honda service center and did a much needed transmission fluid change (especially after buttonwillow). the problem is completely gone.

kepani-who thanks everyone for their help.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Soup **** &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

i have a humming/moaning noise...but i dont hear it until i am cruising above 45-50 mph...

faster i go, the more noticeable it becomes, and more frequent in sound

im assuming its a wheel bearing?

if i cant move the hub, whats the appropiate test to see if its the wheel bearing?</TD></TR></TABLE>

yep, i have the same problem.

 

i cant believe a dealership would use mtf that isnt honda. thats retarded.

for all the horror stories i have heard about dealership service.